The Herald in Late Medieval Europe

Overview

Overview

First full-length assessment of the role of the herald in medieval Europe.

The officers of arms (kings of arms, heralds and pursuivants) have often been overlooked by scholars of late medieval elite society. Yet as officers of the crown, ducal courts or noble families, they played important parts in a number of areas. They were crucial to foreign and domestic relations, and chivalric culture; and, of course, they were to become the powerbrokers of heraldic symbols and genealogy. However, despite the high levels at which they operated, their roles in these areas remain largely unexplored, with scholarship tending to focus on the science of heraldry rather than the heralds themselves. This collection aims to remedy that neglect. The contributions cover a range of European regions (particularly Florence, Scandinavia, Poland, the German Empire, the Burgundian Low Countries, Brittany, Scotland and England) and discuss the diverse roles and experiences of heralds in the late Middle Ages.

Table of Contents

Introduction - Katie StevensonThe Development of the Office of Arms in England, c. 1413-1485 - Jackson Webster ArmstrongAncient Precedent or Tudor Fiction? Garter King of Arms and the Pronouncements of Thomas, Duke of Clarence - Adrian AilesJurisdiction, Authority and Professionalisation: The Officers of Arms of Late Medieval Scotland - Katie StevensonThe March of Brittany and its Heralds in the Later Middle Ages - Michael JonesCity Heralds in the Burgundian Low Countries - Franck André Viltart
and Henri SimonneauKing of Arms of the Ruwieren: a Special Function in the German Empire - Wim van AnrooijHeraldry, Heralds and Politics in the Republic of Florence in the Late Middle Ages - Laura CirriTournaments, Heraldry and Heralds in the Kingdom of Poland in the Late Middle Ages - Bogdan Wojciech BrzustowiczTournaments, Heraldry and Heralds in the Kingdom of Poland in the Late Middle Ages - Katie StevensonA time when 'fools and dwarfs were highly esteemed'? Seeking the Late Medieval Scandinavian Herald - Alexia Grosjean

Reviews

Stevenson and her collaborators have opened new vistas for the historian of the heralds, pointing the way forward to an internationally focused approach to the significance of the part which heralds played in noble society and in the courtly politics of the late medieval age, and one which promises to enlarge our perception of its aristocratic culture. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW

A very satisfactory and interesting collection that contains a vast amount of information, in its text as well as its footnotes. THE RICARDIAN